Friday, June 19, 2015 Budapest

We had to have our luggage outside our door at 8 for pickup then we went for breakfast. We ate alone this morning. Our pals left about 3:30 this morning to catch their flight. Many others also left throughout the night. There were not very many people left that we knew.

Our bus transfer to our hotel left about 9:30 and we were there minutes later. There is a Viking Tours table right in the lobby, so we booked a tour of the Hungarian Parliament for 12:15 and set off on foot. We got there almost an hour early, so we toured around the grounds and lounged on a park bench for a while. The tour was interesting, but it was hard to understand the guide with her accent and the acoustics.

We wandered back toward the hotel, but stopped about 2 to get an authentic Hungarian meal with homemade beer. I had a sausage and vegetable (mostly peppers and tomatoes) soup; Celeste had chicken paprikas; and we split a sour cherry strudel with a delicious vanilla ice cream.

From there we toured St. Stephan’s Cathedral, which was just up the street from the restaurant.

We got back to the hotel and checked in about 4. Our room is pretty elegant. Probably what you would expect at the Saskatchewan Hotel in Regina. We were pretty pooped, so we grabbed a nap and slept from 5 to 9! I sorted and culled pictures for a while and went back to bed about 11, but Celeste had already been asleep for a while.

Weather was mostly overcast and breezy. Temperature about 72 F 22 C.

The crew of our ship, including the captain, was almost entirely from Eastern Europe – Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia, I think Ukraine. The program director was a Brit, who was born in Bulgaria, and the hotel manager was German. The cleanliness and service was flawless throughout. They really made an effort to make you feel welcome – and to earn a tip at the end of the trip, of course. 

The food was excellent throughout - maybe not quite as fancy and not as much variety and not as continuous as on a large cruise ship with a huge kitchen and crew, but very good for the size of the ship. There were always three or four choices of appetizers and main courses and four or five dessert choices at dinner. They were always well prepared and presented. For lunch there was always a generous buffet plus two or three items to order off the menu. And for breakfast there was again a buffet with additional items available off the menu.